Coming Soon to the Casa Linda Theater: Natural Grocers!

I took these pictures in March of this year in front of the old Casa Linda Theater. The theater is located on the SE corner of Buckner Blvd. (Loop 12) and Garland Rd. (Highway 78) in the city of Dallas, TX. It’s slightly more than a mile from my house, and I ride through here all the time on my way to the lake, my office or downtown. The theater has been empty for years, and I have hoped for a long time that some type of good tenant would move in.

I took these photos for a story that I was going to write about my old Dutch commuter that I purchased last year.

But I never got around to it.

However, a story in todays Dallas Morning News made me decide to dig up these photos and publish them in conjunction with a great story about historic preservation and good news for my part of town. It turns out that Colorado based “Natural Grocers” is refurbishing the theater and turning it into (what they refer to as) a “natural grocery store”. You can read about it here in the DMN. Apparently, they have a big emphasis on vitamins and “healthy living”, whatever that is, but they also will carry organic produce and hormone free, free-range meats. Sign me up! I’m assuming that they will also have beer and wine under the authority of our newly wet city ordinance, but I’m not sure about that one. The bottom line for me is that I will have a new grocery option that is an easy bike ride and isn’t Albertson’s. Heck, the owners of the Casa linda Shopping Center even installed a bike rack in front of the Starbucks down the sidewalk from this old theater.

So I’m excited. I grew up around here, and I went to the Casa Linda Theater all the time. I saw “Gone with the Wind” here for the first time when I was 12 years old…….

So, would it have been nice for them to re-open it as a vinatge film theaster? Yes. An art museum would have been nice too, but I’m realistic. At least it isn’t going to be a huge dollar store or porn theater.

Plus, I’m finally getting an opportunity to roll out some pictures of this tank of a commuter that I bought a few years back.

I finally sold it to a guy this summer. It was too much like my Electrabike Amsterdam Classic 3, and it weighed about fifty pounds. It didn’t quite fit me, either.

Made in Holland by “Union”, the model is called “Sphinx”.

Sturmey Archer 3 speed internal hub and drum brakes. A seriously solid bike. It came with two built-in locks.

So: good news for Casa Linda/East Dallas residents and the City of Dallas!